Le Beffroi
Le Beffroi (French for: "the Belfry") is a building in Port-aux-Français, on the city's university campus. Located in the La Synagogue neighbourhood, it houses the Faculty of Arts of the University of Kerguelen and a small arts museum with works by Édouard de Fervières-Lesvériés de la Fourrière and , amongst others. Description Le Beffroi is a building made out of natural stone imported from and . The building is predominantly built from red and brown-to-black natural stone, with the high-arched windows and doorways fimbrillated with light . The building consists of three main parts: the Grand Hall or Grande Salle, where a lecture hall, a relatively small library, a canteen, and the museum are vested; the Nave or Nef, where the classrooms, art studios, and offices of academic staff are located; and the building's namesake, the Belfry or Beffroi, a clocktower next to which is a balcony where students and staff can sit after or between classes. The entire building consists of two floors, with the exception of the lecture hall and the clocktower. Part of the canteen is also open to the second floor, with the second floor balcony home to the library. The Nave provides sixty classrooms and 16 art studios. History When in 1962 the government of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands expressed the intention to create the University of Kerguelen, they discussed the preferred architectural nature of every single building for the new university. They eventually settled on that the building housing the University of Kerguelen's faculty of arts should be in the (technically therefore ) style, in 1963. Several proposals were submitted by architects for the building, and in 1964 the proposal for a clocktower building by architect John Manning was selected. The design committee's argumentation for the selection of Manning's design was that "it is simplistic yet impressive, showing simultaneously grandeur and humility, where a person could feel proud of and warmly welcomed by the building, without a sense of superiority or architectural intimidation"Les selections pour l'Université de Kerguelen (1964). "La conception et simpliste mais imposante, elle indique en même temps de grandeur et d'humilité, où quelqu'un peut sentir de fierté et accueilli par le bâtiment sans un sens de supériorité ou qu'on est intimidé par l'architecture.". Building started in 1965 as part of the construction of the Port-aux-Français University Campus, and saw no major construction problems. Construction finished in 1970, and the building was opened in 1972. Faculty of Arts Le Beffroi is the main building of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Kerguelen, and is thus used by ca. 2,000 students and 220 academic staff. The faculty has exclusive use to the lecture hall and the art studios, and de facto to all the classrooms too. The library is open to students; the canteen and the museum are open to all visitors. The small museum of the Faculty of Arts is world-renowned for its unique collection of paintings, which include a dozen or so paintings by the artist from the Southern Indian Ocean Islands, Édouard de Fervières-Lesvériés de la Fourrière, including his famous 1907 painting The Summit of Mont Ross. Another famous artist on exhibition, of which the faculty owns seven paintings in total, is . The most famous of his works in exhibition in the faculty are the 1911 The Accordionist, the 1902 Blue Nude, and the 1962 The Rape of the Sabine Women. In addition to the masterworks of these two famous artists, the museum also exhibits paintings and sculptures of its students, which in some cases can be purchased to support the faculty financially. Notes and references Category:Port-aux-Français Category:Port-aux-Français University Campus